Former Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon, 47, spoke of his mixed emotions at the end of his police career last night.

Former Detective Superintendent Ray Mallon, 47, spoke of his mixed emotions at the end of his police career last night.

He said: "I was given a simple choice, do I want to stand as the elected mayor, or do I want to fight these proceedings?

"Instantaneously I pleaded guilty to end this for the good of everybody and so that my name could be on that ballot paper. There's happiness and there's sadness.

"The sad part is that I have been connected to Cleveland Police for just over 28 years altogether and it is difficult in the sense that Cleveland Police, I still believe, is a good police force and I believe that it has got a good future.

"And I am saddened that I won't be part of Cleveland Police from now on.

"But the nice side is that, forget about Ray Mallon, I actually think that he's becoming unimportant to an extent in this. What's more important is my family and people around me and the close friends who don't have the trauma now of living with this on a day-to-day basis. We can now move on.